The photo-sharing app Instagram can actually help curb depression. Teens' use of the photo-sharing service Instagram has both risks and benefits, a new study out of Belgium suggests.

Photo-sharing app Instagram may help curb depression (File Photo)

New Delhi :

In the generation of social media Teens' make use of a photo-sharing app called Instagram which helps not only in sharing the photographs but it also helps in strengthening the closeness of their friendships.

But this is to inform all those people who are so much addicted to the social media network that Instagram has got both benifits as well as disadvantages.

The photo-sharing app Instagram can actually help curb depression. Teens' use of the photo-sharing service Instagram has both risks and benefits, a new study out of Belgium suggests.

Researchers tracked Belgian teens' Instagram use for six months and linked frequent use to greater depression.But Instagram also made the teens feel closer to friends, which in turn was related to lower levels of depression, the study found.

“This age group may be particularly at risk for the impact of Instagram, given the increasing popularity of Instagram in adolescence and given the increase of depressive symptoms during this stage of life,” said researcher Eline Frison from the University of Leuven in Belgium.

“This study offers practitioners greater insight into the outcomes of adolescents’ Instagram use,” Frison said.The findings are scheduled to be presented at the 67th annual International Communication Association conference to be held at San Diego, California from May 25-29, 2017.From 2013-2014, Frison set up a large-scale study to investigate the relationships between adolescents’ social networking site use and their well-being.

Students filled out paper-and-pencil surveys between six-month periods.The surveys asked students about their use of social networking sites like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram, and their well-being (depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, loneliness).

The data analyzed revealed that using Instagram at one point was related to increased closeness to friends (perception that they are appreciated and loved by their friends) six months later, which in turn was related to lower levels of depression.However, the researchers cautioned that if the use of the photo sharing app fails to stimulate the feeling closeness to friends, it could be harmful in the long run.